Dubai Hamas slaying relived as comedy film

The US$5.2m film will speculate as to who was really behind the killing of Mahmoud Al Mabhouh

Film will speculate as to who was really behind the killing of Mahmoud Al Mabhouh (pictured).

By Shane McGinley

Wed 07 Mar 2012 12:21 PM

The assassination of a Hamas leader in a Dubai hotel in 2010 is to be turned into a comedy production, the AFP news agency has reported.

In January 2010, a hit squad killed senior Hamas leader Mahmoud Al Mabhouh while he was staying at a hotel in Dubai. The gang, which used fake passports to gain access to the emirate, was subsequently caught on CCTV and the footage was broadcast worldwide as part of an investigation by Dubai police.

The producers behind the film told the AFP news agency they are preparing to shoot a US$5.2m comedy which will claim that international criminals killed the Hamas leader and framed Mossad, the Israeli national intelligence agency.

This is not the first-time the event has been used for celluloid inspiration. It was claimed last year the assassination was being used as the basis of a Hollywood blockbuster by Sony Pictures

According to Variety, the Hollywood industry trade newspaper, the event will be used as the inspiration for the plot of a new action thriller being developed by Iranian scriptwriter Hossein Amini.

To be named 'Shadow Runner', the film will star up-and-coming Australian actor Chris Hemsworth, who previously starred in the summer superhero movie 'Thor'.

The film is said to be under development at Sony Pictures, which produced the blockbuster film franchises 'Spiderman' and 'Men in Black'.

"We think the story is a terrific action thriller for Chris Hemsworth and we know this project is in great hands,” Hannah Minghella, one of the producers behind the project, told the Deadline movie website.

Scheduled for release in 2014, the exact details of the plot and production have been kept under wraps and it is not clear whether the movie will be filmed in, or set, in Dubai.